We have family and friends in Israel. For most of the past year, I have checked the news daily following the conflicts in Gaza and, more recently, Lebanon. One of the more frightening graphics I followed showed the air attack siren locations, many of which covered areas where we know people. We were, of course, happy for the people of Israel and Lebanon when a cease-fire was announced in the north, and we look forward to the day when there is a cease-fire in Gaza. Then, this weekend, we saw hopeful and frightening events in Syria. One of the sources I use for information also publishes a daily review of the war in Ukraine and the suffering there. We live in a conflicted world.

Watching for a Prince of Peace

One of the most familiar Christmas passages is from Isaiah:

For to us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore (Isaiah 9:6-7)

At Christmas, we celebrate the arrival of that Prince of Peace and anticipate the final victory of that peace over the forces that limit and destroy human flourishing. As we can see, the arrival of the Prince of Peace did not bring the kind of “power-peace” we humans often desire.

The Peace We Seek

Old Testament scholars helpfully remind us that the passage from Isaiah was not written in a time of peace but in a time of war. Isaiah probably thought that the new-born child of the current Israeli king was to be the anticipated Messiah/Savior. One meaning of peace in the Old Testament (and today) is the absence of conflict based on the victory of one side.

Scholars also helpfully remind us that the meaning of “shalom,” the Hebrew word for peace, ultimately connotes much more than a mere absence of conflict. It connotes “wholeness and completeness,” a situation where all the aspects of human flourishing, physical, mental, moral, spiritual, and social are in balance. In ancient Hebrew, if a person asked, “Is your family Shalom?’ (a phrase we would translate as, “Is your family well?”) they meant to say, “Is your family doing OK?” Just as today, they would not mean, “Has your family stopped fighting?” They would mean, “Is your family doing well?” Thus, shalom includes well-being in every area of life. [1]

Personal and Social Shalom

We need the Shalom (Peace) more than the absence of conflict. It is a sense of personal wholeness and well-being. Social scientists tell us that human flourishing has several components, such as:

• A feeling of well-being
• A sense of meaning and purpose in life
• Economic security
• Mental and physical health
• A sense of integrity and virtue
• Close and meaningful social relationships
• An absence of personal and social conflict. [2]

This list reminds us that there is much more to shalom than an end to fighting. We human beings are social animals. We need close, healthy, non-conflicted social relationships; without them, we wither on the vine of life. As a parent, I have observed that healthy relationships characterize happy families. On the other hand, dysfunctional families are often characterized by unhealthy relationships.  People who grow up in unhealthy families are wounded by the dysfunction they experience as children. These wounds can take decades to cure—and sometimes, they are never cured. Where there are not such healthy relationships, children often grow up wounded. [3]

As a pastor, I have often noted that healthy relationships among and between members characterize happy, growing churches. The same phenomenon is true in business and other organizations. When human relationships among people are or become dysfunctional, there is a lack of health and wholeness, and everyone suffers. Fortunately, the Holy Spirit can work within our spirit to restore the wholeness for which we were intended—which is one of the primary roles of the Christian church.

When Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Shalom-makers), he means a lot more than “Blessed are those who engage in. transnational peacemaking.” He means, “Blessed are all those who enter any situation, personal or social, in which human beings are not experiencing the wholeness for which they were created and work to restore health and wholeness.” This blessedness of true shalom is one of the primary fruits of faith in Christ, the forgiveness of sins, and the healing and restoring power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus as our Peace

Near the end of John, Jesus warns his disciples about the peace or shalom he came to provide. “Peace I give you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let your hearts not be troubled nor be afraid” (John 14:27). Jesus warns his disciples that the peace, shalom, wholeness and flourishing that he will provide is not the “personal peace, pleasure, and affluence” that the secular world seeks and its apostles promise. It is a more profound, richer, and more lasting peace that sickness, age, disease, and death cannot take away. It is finally faith in God, forgiveness of past misdeeds, peace with God, and a sense that one is within the will of God. This is the Shalom we celebrate on Christmas Eve when we hear the voice of angels singing, “Peace on earth, Goodwill to men.”

Copyright 2024, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] See, Donald E. Gowan, Shalom: A Study of the Biblical Concept of Peace (Pittsburg, PA: Creative Edge, 1984). This helpful study was a part of the Kerygma Bible study program sponsored by the Presbyterian church some years ago. This study was central in preparing this blog.

[2] This particular section of the blog is dependent upon research done by the so-called “flourishing initiative” being led by researchers out of Harvard. The Human Flourishing Program at Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science (IQSS) seeks to carry out research and teaching to bridge the empirical social sciences with the humanities on topics related to human flourishing. See, for example, the Flourish Initiative at https://hfh.fas.harvard.edu/.

[3] I do not want to indicate at all that every emotional scar indicates a dysfunctional family, as all families have some dysfunction. Nor do I want to suggest that these emotional scars from childhood cannot be cured. They can. See, Peter Scazzero, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality updated ed (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017). Today, the Emotionally Healthy Spirituality and Relationship Courses are available as the “Emotionally Healthy Disciples Course,” which includes books, study guides, teaching videos, devotional guides, and teaching helps. Finally, for leaders, the following can be helpful. Peter Scazzero, The Emotionally Healthy Leader: How Transforming your Inner Life Will Deeply Transform your Church, Team, and World (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017).